The Guatemalan government on Saturday dispersed a caravan of about 400 undocumented immigrants on the border with Honduras, mostly citizens of Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti seeking success in the United States, an immigration source said.
The migrants, including young people and pregnant women, were intercepted by police at the Corinto border crossing, in the northeastern arm of Izabal, Alejandra Mena, spokeswoman for the Guatemalan Institute of Migration (IGM), told reporters.
“The other people on the move are most commonly Venezuelan, Haitian and Cuban citizens,” he said.
He added that the organization is being held at the border post, where a contingent of rebel police and army workers have been deployed and several establishments have begun a dialogue to “seek migratory answers and provide them with the corresponding assistance. “
After several hours of dialogue, the IGM has legalized “the humanitarian access of 121 people” who will continue their transit in the country, MENA said, while the rest were returned to Honduras, a procedure for migrants who enter Guatemala irregularly.
“They have been informed of the asylum process, but they imply that they only want transit, to succeed in Mexico and then in the United States,” he added.
The government activated a protocol of migratory attention after intercepting the caravan due to the suspicion that some other gigantic organization has just entered Guatemalan territory in the same way from Honduras, so far the mobilization has not been confirmed.
In addition to being a country of origin for migrants entering the United States illegally, Guatemala is also a corridor for thousands of citizens of other nationalities who say they are fleeing poverty, violence and lack of opportunity in their country and seeking to succeed in the U. S. UU soil.
During 2018, the migratory exodus evolved with the departure of caravans, basically from northern Honduras. The last major march, of about 7,500 members, was forcibly dispersed through Guatemalan police and military early last year on the Chiquimula branch on the border with Honduras.